Build America Mutual Assurance Company (BAM or the Company), the first mutual municipal bond insurer, today announced that it has joined the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) as an Associate Member.
“We’re pleased to join SIFMA,” said Seán W. McCarthy, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of BAM. “We believe SIFMA plays an important role in the municipal market we serve and that our membership will allow us to contribute to its efforts to support a strong municipal industry.”
Launched in July 2012, BAM’s mission is to deliver substantial interest cost savings for issuers of municipal bonds and durable protection against loss for municipal bondholders. Owned by its policyholders—the cities, states and other municipal entities that use its guaranty—BAM’s mutual structure and business plan provide extremely strong capital and claims-paying resources designed to maintain the highest available ratings and strong investor confidence.
BAM is chartered to insure municipal bonds, exclusively, and strives to provide the municipal industry with the highest level of transparency in its operations and the bonds it insures. Regarding the latter, BAM posts Obligor Disclosure Briefs (ODBs) on every bond it insures on its website www.buildamerica.com. Accessible by CUSIP, obligor, state or sector, the ODBs assist broker-dealers in meeting disclosure rules for secondary market issues.
About BAM
Domiciled in New York, BAM is a mutual monoline insurer of primary and secondary municipal bonds, exclusively. BAM is rated AA/Stable by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services and is sponsored by the National League of Cities.
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About SIFMA
The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) brings together the shared interests of hundreds of securities firms, banks and asset managers. SIFMA’s mission is to support a strong financial industry, investor opportunity, capital formation, job creation and economic growth, while building trust and confidence in the financial markets. SIFMA, with offices in New York and Washington, D.C., is the U.S. regional member of the Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA). For more information, visit http://www.sifma.org.
For further information, please contact:
Betsy Castenir
Head of Corporate Communications 212-257-6148
C: 917-940-2462 bcastenir@buildamerica.com

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S&P Global Ratings today affirmed its AA rating and stable outlook for Build America Mutual, the largest municipal-only bond insurer, recognizing BAM’s “excellent capital and earnings” and other key strengths in assigning BAM the highest rating S&P maintains for any active bond insurer. The rating was affirmed following the adoption of new ratings methodologies for bond insurance that align the sector with S&P’s ratings for other insurers.